McClatchy Announces Restructuring Plan

Released 06/16/2008

The McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI) announced today that it plans to reduce its workforce by
about 10% as the company accelerates efforts to manage through today's
difficult advertising market and position itself for future success in an
increasingly competitive environment.

"We have been transitioning steadily and successfully from a traditional
newspaper company to an integrated multimedia company for some time," said
McClatchy CEO Gary Pruitt. "The effects of the current national economic
downturn -- particularly in real estate, auto and employment advertising --
make it essential that we move faster now to realign our workforce and make
our operations more efficient. I'm sorry this requires the painful
announcement we are making today, but we're taking this action to help ensure
a healthy future for our company."

McClatchy said it is reducing workforce through both voluntary and
involuntary separations, as well as managed attrition, involving about 1,400
full-time equivalent employees (FTE's). The company will retain its strategic
focus on sales, news and online operations as it realigns operations, with
decisions about the size and profile of changes differing by location.

McClatchy historically has not used broad layoffs to manage staff size,
relying instead on attrition and selected job eliminations through
outsourcing. This has been an effective strategy, resulting in workforce
reduction of 13% between the end of 2006 and April 2008, but today's more
competitive media environment and challenging operating conditions mean the
company must move more aggressively to shape the overall workforce.

"It's important to recognize this move as part of a continuing, strategic
vision for successful future operations, not solely a response to today's
adverse conditions," Pruitt said. "McClatchy is committed to remaining a
healthy, profitable company positioned not only to meet current challenges,
but to take full advantage of opportunities for growth as we restructure to
support our mission of delivering high quality news and information. Our
five-year plan has recognized the need for a workforce smaller than today's;
in adjusting to the current economic environment, we find we must move more
quickly to that goal."

McClatchy's cash expenses were down 10.5% in the first quarter of 2008 and
FTE count was down 7.5% from prior year.

The moves announced today will produce annual savings of about $70 million
from staff reductions as part of a plan to reduce overall expenses by $95
million to $100 million over the next four quarters. Combined with previous
expense control initiatives, the company expects to reduce non-newsprint cash
expense in the low double-digit percentage range over the balance of 2008
excluding severance costs of about $30 million.

McClatchy has continued to grow total audience even in today's economic
climate. Adding newspaper readership to the unduplicated reach of online,
digital and niche products, the company's local media franchises in 29 premium
markets nationwide reach on average 70% of the adults in their communities.
Online audience growth of 25% in 2007 far outpaced industry averages, and the
first quarter of 2008 saw even more dramatic growth of 41%.

"Growing audience has always been the best predictor of future success for
any media company, and in our case it is also an essential foundation for our
public service mission," said Howard Weaver, McClatchy's vice president, news.
"As difficult as it is to say farewell to valued colleagues, we continue to
employ by far the largest and most experienced newsrooms in each of our
communities and will continue to do so. They enjoy greater reach and employ
better tools today than ever in our 151-year history, and we do not intend to
slack in pursuing our obligations."

McClatchy said the company would work to ensure a smooth transition during
the downsizing, providing severance payments and benefit continuation to
affected employees. "We will move as quickly as possible to inform those
affected by this plan and will work hard to treat them with the respect owed
to colleagues whom we will all miss," said Heather Fagundes, the vice
president for human resources at the company.

About McClatchy

The McClatchy Company is the third largest newspaper company in the United
States, with 30 daily newspapers, approximately 50 non-dailies, and direct
marketing and direct mail operations. McClatchy also operates leading local
websites in each of its markets which extend its audience reach. The websites
offer users comprehensive news and information, advertising, e-commerce and
other services. Together with its newspapers and direct marketing products,
these interactive operations make McClatchy the leading local media company in
each of its premium high growth markets. McClatchy-owned newspapers include
The Miami Herald, The Sacramento Bee, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, The Kansas
City Star, the Charlotte Observer, and The (Raleigh) News & Observer.

McClatchy also owns a portfolio of premium digital assets, including 14.4%
of CareerBuilder, the nation's largest online job site, and 25.6% of
Classified Ventures, a newspaper industry partnership that offers two of the
nation's premier classified websites: the auto website, cars.com, and the
rental site, apartments.com. McClatchy is listed on the New York Stock
Exchange under the symbol MNI.

Additional Information:

Statements in this press release regarding future financial and operating
results, including revenues, anticipated savings from cost reduction efforts,
cash flows, debt levels, as well as future opportunities for the company and
any other statements about management's future expectations, beliefs, goals,
plans or prospects constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statements that are
not statements of historical fact (including statements containing the words
"believes," "plans," "anticipates," "expects," estimates and similar
expressions) should also be considered to be forward-looking statements.
There are a number of important risks and uncertainties that could cause
actual results or events to differ materially from those indicated by such
forward-looking statements, including: the duration and depth of an economic
recession in markets where McClatchy operates its newspapers may reduce its
income and cash flow greater than expected; McClatchy may not consummate
contemplated transactions which may enable debt reduction on anticipated terms
or at all; McClatchy may not achieve its expense reduction targets or may do
harm to its operations in attempting to achieve such targets; McClatchy's
operations have been, and will likely continue to be, adversely affected by
competition, including competition from internet publishing and advertising
platforms; McClatchy's expense and income levels could be adversely affected
by changes in the cost of newsprint and McClatchy's operations could be
negatively affected by any deterioration in its labor relations, as well as
the other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's publicly filed
documents, including the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year
ended December 30, 2007, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission. McClatchy disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to
update the forward-looking information contained in this release.